WARNER ROBINS, Ga.-- U.S. Representative Austin Scott (GA-08) recently announced the Eighth District's 2024 Congressional App Challenge Winners at a ceremony at Houston County High School.

Houston County High School students Micheal Do and Hieu Tran won first place with their app Signify, which generates a real-time translation of American Sign Language (ASL) to English.

"I am always blown away by the creativity and talent of our young constituents, and I congratulate our App Challenge winners on their amazing accomplishment," Rep. Scott said. "I encourage all students to participate in the upcoming app challenge this year!"

Signify collects images through a video recording using a mobile phone camera. It then utilizes a machine learning model that has been trained using hundreds of images to track a person's finger and hand movements using sign language. It then compares these new gestures with the gestures it was trained on to classify and output the translation of the sign in English.

Signify will be featured on the U.S. House of Representatives website and displayed in an exhibit in the U.S. Capitol Building alongside winners from other participating Congressional Districts across the country.

The first runner-ups were Lowndes High School students Aarin Dave and Aarav Dave with their app Redove, which utilizes extended reality (XR) technology to immerse long-term or isolated hospital patients into a world that provides a sense of freedom or familiarity. 

The Congressional App Challenge is an annual, nationwide event intended to engage students' creativity and encourage their participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This competition allows students to compete with peers throughout their own Congressional District by creating and exhibiting their software application, or "app," for web, PC, tablet, mobile, or other platforms.

All current middle and high school students (6-12th grade) residing in or attending school in the Eighth Congressional District are encouraged to start planning for the 2025 Congressional App Challenge. Students may compete as individuals or in teams of up to four as long as two of the teammates are eligible to participate in the district. More details will be announced this Spring.

Additional details can be found on Rep. Scott's website or by contacting Rep. Scott's Warner Robins office at (478) 971-1776.

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